We are a group of civil society activists and researchers who are concerned about public transportation in Hyderabad. We want a mass rapid transit system that includes the buses, trains (MMTS/Metro), sidewalks and cycle paths. But the proposed elevated metro will not meet these objectives.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Our comment: L&T Hyd metro scandal is unfolding too fast. We
have been saying from the very beginning that it is a land-real estate project
in the garb of metro. 15 acres of land at Raidurg in the IT hub Gachibowli area is the key for
extension of the metro route by 1 km. This was not part of the Concession Agreement. Instead of at Shilparamam the Line-3 will now terminate one kilometre away. The
news item says: “The terminal station at Shilparamam was aborted since the site
was found to be on a lake bed.” What a
farcical reason. If so, didn't they know it before? It also says: there would be no need to acquire "any land for parking and circulating areas for
the stations from institutions like Osmania University, National Institute of
Nutrition, Koti Women’s College and others.” If so, then how are you
going to provide parking space for commuters at these stations?

Hyderabad
Metro Rail’s Line Three from Nagole to Shilparamam will now terminate one
kilometre away at Raidurg with the Government issuing orders allotting 15 acres
for developing parking and circulation area for the station on Tuesday.

The
land was under the possession of A.P. Industrial Infrastructure Corporation
(APIIC) and has been handed over to the metro rail authorities for Rs.9 crore
towards development charges excluding the land cost.

It
will be part of the 269 acres to be provided for the project and apart from
land for depots at Miyapur, Nagole and Falaknuma, 57 acres are for parking and
circulation at the overhead stations.

With
Raidurg land allotment, another 12 acres remain to be given. The terminal
station at Shilparamam was aborted since the site was found to be on a lake
bed.

The
elevated train will now take a left turn near Hi-Tec City and culminate near
the Mindspace-Raheja edifice at Raidurg, explained HMR Managing Director N.V.S.
Reddy. The new station should come as a boon to the estimated 2 lakh-odd people
working in the hub including those working in the adjacent financial district.
It would also mean avoiding seeking any land for parking and circulating areas
for the stations from institutions like Osmania University, National Institute
of Nutrition, Koti Women’s College and others.

The
extra kilometre for Line Three will escalate the Rs.14,132 crore project cost
by Rs.200 crore. The third corridor will now be 28.52 km/24 stations. Line One
is from Miyapur-L.B.Nagar – 28.87 km/27 stations and Line Two proposed from
Jubilee Bus Station-Falaknuma is 14.78 km/16 stations and overall, the metro
rail covers 72.16 km.

HYDERABAD: The city's metro rail project has hit yet another
roadblock. The government in its mad rush to beautify the city for COP 11 has
instructed Larsen & Toubro that is executing the metro rail project, to
stop work until the international biodiversity summit is over. But the
instruction has caught L&T in a bind. For starters, it has come verbally
and makes no mention whatsoever of compensating L&T for the loss it would
incur for the days of work lost, that they estimate would be around Rs 300
crore.

The Hyderabad Metro Rail authorities had verbally informed
L&T in the first week of August to stop metro work from August 15 to
October 19, when COP 11 ends. While L&T has so far not stopped work,
officials said on Tuesday that pressure was mounting on them. "The
government wants to get away without paying compensation by issuing such oral
instructions. This is not fair as we will suffer a huge loss. If they want us
to stop work, they must allow us to invoke Force Majeure clause," said a
highly placed source in L&T. As per the concession agreement, L&T, the
project concessionaire, can invoke Force Majeure clause claiming the
compensation if the government issues "official instructions" to stop
work. In the absence of a written communication, officials peg their estimated
loss for this 60-day break at around Rs 300 crore, estimating that each day's
delay is adding Rs 5 crore to the escalating project cost.

Chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy had directed government officials to ensure
that metro rail work did not come in the way of the bio-diversity convention to
be held in the city from October 1 to 19.

Official denies effect of COP 11 on metro works
The CM had sanctioned Rs 125 crore for city beautification, which includes a
plan to upgrade 125-km road corridor from airport to star hotels, constructing
35 new fountains, proper sanitation and remodeling of junctions among others.

But NVS Reddy, managing director of HMRL, played down L&T's concern. He
said, "It is not a big deal. If L&T wants us to issue instructions in
writing, we are ready to do it. But, it has to be done on a proper forum."
Denying the effect of COP 11 on metro project, Reddy said the works would be
continuing in other parts of the city in the non-COP areas. "When the
works would continue in other parts of the city, where is the question of
invoking Force Majeure clause and paying for the loss," he questioned.

However, sources in L&T said the government has asked the company to stop
the entire work as the beautification work is being carried out across the city
and not just the arterial roads that delegates would be using. They further
said that the amount of money the government was spending on beautification in non-COP
areas would go waste as L&T would demolish all of it for metro construction
work. And if NVS Reddy's claim that metro work would continue in non-COP areas
is anything to go by, L&T said it would bulldoze over the beautified
stretches even before the convention starts.

BANGALORE:Garbagecontractors appear determined to ruin
the city's aesthetics. Under pressure to find space to dump waste, they have
begun offloading debris in medians between Namma Metro pillars. What was
planned to be a colourful bed of flowers has become home for stinking heaps of
garbage all along Reach 1 on the MG Road-Byappanahalli route.

New Delhi:The government-run Research Design and Standards
Organisation (RDSO) has filed a report that exposes how the Delhi Metro Rail
Corporation (DMRC) and Reliance Infra overlooked serious technical problems in
the India’s first airport metro service.

The RDSO's report
accessed by IBN 7 shows how the airport metro ran on broken clips for eight
months. The report says 11,000 clips found broken on the IGI airport-Shivaji
Stadium track.

The RDSO says the DMRC
did not reply despite reminders. For more, click the following link-